thursday, december he 27th, here is what's going on. senate democrats are telling the g.o.p. that they should not stand in the way of a last minute deal on the fiscal cliff, democrats demanding higher tax rates on the so-called wealthy. joining us now is former investment banker carol roth. a, it seems like a total standoff and b, seems like we're headed over that cliff, it looks like it. here is the question for you, carol, if we go over the that cliff what happens to the markets? >> well, stuart, i think if we go over the cliff, the markets are going to react negatively,

they reacted negatively the last time we revisited the debt ceiling for tarp, so, i don't think that the markets are going to be particularly happy, but i don't know that it's necessarily for the right reasonss i to think that we're going to get a deal here, but i think it's going to end up happening late january, maybe middle of january, but at the end. day, stuart, it doesn't solve any of our problems. stuart: i agree, i agree. >> and i'm so frustrated that we're 13 months in, we've had 13 months to figure it out and we're at the 11th hour. stuart: everybody is. the mood of the country, furious nothing is happening here and politicians are dithering at the last minute. why is it? it doesn't look like a deal is going to get done. a total stop gap and as you say it's not a good deal anyway. why hasn't the stock market fallen out of bed? we're still at 13,000 on the dow. why are we still there? >> what i think usually when

congress doesn't do anything, that's a good signal for the market. two, i think the market is very sphisophisticated and whether ot we get a deal is not going to make a dent in the grand scheme of things and still have the fed printing money. if you put all of that together the markets have been behaving. at some point in time though they're going to get frustrated and everyone is going to say listen, we need to get a deal done even if it's for theatrical purposes because if we don't make meaningful strides we will get downgraded in terms of our debt and that will be a huge issue for the market. stuart: i think you and i agree there will be a deal of some sort and i agree with you it probably will come th into januy and that will be the rich pay more, no serious cuts in spending and certainly no reform of entitlements and debt-- it will be a deal, not a solution and you and i are in

100% agreement on that. stuart: i'm very glad to hear that, carol. now this one, let me raise a different subject. something that could affect our economy short-term. port workers from boston to houston, threatening to strike and walk off the job come sunday. that could disrupt 2 million tons of imports every single day, and billions of dollars of economic activity every day, every week that this walkout continues. it's a threat at the moment, but it could become reality come sunday. if it happened, do you think we go into recession? is it the final straw at that kicks us into recession? >> well, given the fact that so many goods have come in in the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarter for the holiday season, i think if it's a short-term thing, we don't go into recession. now what i say about this, stuart, i say if that happens, fire them all. working and having a job is a privilege not a right. we have become the entitled

state of america and i will tell you what i've never been in a job if i decided to go on strike they wouldn't have said, carol, guess what, that's the door don't let it hit you on the butt as you go out. if they want to strike, 20 million people that are unemployed or underemployed that would be happy to have a job. stuart: it's shades of ronald reagan firing workers in the 1980's patco. >> exactly. stuart: president obama is not in a position to fire port workers and the people who run the ports, they're not going to fire them, they'll just let them walk out, that's what's going on. >> well, look, this didn't work out well for the hostess company and for twinkies, so i feel like somebody has a to take a hard stand here, if we keep letting it happen over and over again, it's a situation. whether it be with congress or strikes, there need to be consequences for people's

actions, stuart. stuart: you're right. here we are at the end of the year, we've run out of money and a fiscal cliff crisis on our hands, dock workers are probably going to go on strike. it's coming to a head and we thought everything would be resolved by the election we had a couple of months ago, it's just not working, is it. >> no, it's not. we thought it would be a slow news cycle and certainly that's not happening. stuart: no, no, no, it's not happening. of course in the news business, that's kind of good news, isn't it? carol roth, we appreciate you being with us. thanks indeed, carol. toyota, here is the news, it's going to pay a fine of 1.1 billion dollars. it will settle those lawsuits, remember the scandal? that unintended ak sole ration n some cars that took off on their own. the-- that's actually up. it's a lot of money to pay for a fine, but investors knew it was coming and factored into the stock and maybe some relief it's only, quote, unquote, 1.1

billion. the next question, of 1.1 billion how much did the lawyers get? we'll have a lawyer for you in a few minutes. trial lawyer, mark lanier is here to defend the lawyers fees. hundreds of millions, how about that. and we're about to tumble over the fiscal cliff, and millions of americans face higher taxes if congress does not reach a deal. how much more would you have to pay? find out next and we'll have the opening belfour you after the break. with fidelity's new options platform, we've completely integrated every step of the process, making it easier to try filters and strategies... to get a list of equity option.. evaluate them with our p&l calculator... and execute faster with our more intuitive trade ticket. i'm greg stevens and i helped create fidelity's options platform. it's one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades

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is. well, we're just a few seconds from the opening bell. let's give you the news background, we've had one number out the weekly jobless benefit claims, 350,000. and a fairly low number by those standards of the last years. there's a very big number coming out at ten o'clock this morning, that may move the market and certainly give a indication on the housing market. it's new home sales, number of sales of brand new homes, a good indicator in a market area, which has been showing improvement recently. in fact, it's the bright spot in the economy, the housing market. and we've been discussing for some time it's a single family home in a good neighborhood, and that you can make. we'll have numbers that-- just to argue out the equation

if you like at ten o'clock eastern time this morning and check for you carefully. the market is now open, where are we? we're up slightly. 13,100 for the dow industrials, just at a time when we know we're going to run out of money on monday and we know we're approaching that fiscal cliff with no deal in sight and yet, the dow is still at 13,100. and let's go to nicole and start with toyota. they're going to pay that 1.1 billion dollar fine and settle the claims of those unintended acceleration cars, look at that. >> when you take out uncertainty it's good news for a company and that's exactly what's happening here, the stock is up 1.7%, nearly $92. this is 91.87. this is a class action lawsuit and toyota admits no-fault and they're settling and spending 1.1 billion dollars to settle this to cover econooic losses, it does not cover wrongful death

or injuries, but it certainly takes away one level of uncertainty and that's good news. stuart: nicole, we shut point out that the japanese currency, the yen, has come straight down. that means toyota cars will be a little cheaper or more price competitive in america and maybe that's helping, too. >> that's right, a weaker yen and the other thing, they've given a good outlook for sales, put it together, not bad. stuart: $91 a share and i guess the shareholders will take that. thank you very much indeed. toyota pays the precise number is, 1,136,000,000. what the lawyers get. 227 million dollars for attorney costs and those fees. and joining us now on the phone, our favorite trial lawyer, mark lanier. mark, are you there? >> yes, i am, stuart, it's a good day for the consumer. stuart: stop it. it's a wonderful day for the lawyers.

227 million dollars, now, i've got a question. is that 227 million taken out of the 1.1 billion dollar fine or is it on top of the 1.1 billion >> it's on top of the 1.136 billion dollars. it is paid by toyota directly to the 75 plus lawyers that basically spent the last five years of their life working on this. stuart: those lawyers raked toyota, because the unintended acceleration was often, in fact, i think every single time, was the result of driver error. the lawyers just drove toyota into court and-- >> have your say, go ahead. >> okay, stuart, not at all. this is only for the value, this is just a objective venture. if you had bought a toyota and you tried to sell it during the the time period that is here, you got less for your toyota because of the reputation damage to the machine. and in addition, what this money

is for, is for toyota to now go back and install brake override systems on the cars so they'll be safer for everybody on the road. this is a permissive thing and add that the lawyers have 27 million dollars of their own money invested in this litigation, which they would have lost if they'd not been able to win. stuart: forgive me, mark, i don't think that lawyers should be investing in litigation. i don't think the legal system really should work like that. >> well, stuart, that's the free enterprise system in america. you being a capitalist should love this, as opposed to letting the government do it. we he don't need the government to do this. this is what americans can do. stuart: you've got the last word on me there, mark lanier, very good, very good. you walk away from your 227 million, mark, have a wonderful new year. >> thank you. stuart: a massive storm, serious stuff here, big storms through the u.s., high winds, snow,

everybody came down and stranding a lot of travelers across the country and dumping inches of snow in some cities, actually feet in some areas. roadways in the northeast covered with snow, again, two feet of snow in some areas. big delays in a lot of airports. big headaches for holiday travelers, that storm is blamed for the at least six deaths. if congress and the president can't come up with a plan and we dive on that fiscal cliff, look what would happen to the average federal taxpayers, the average taxpayer is roughly 50,000 bucks a year and that person would pay a extra, 1238 per year in taxes. in fact, every taxpayer would pay more if we go over that cliff. clearly, that would be a hit to the overall economy. and who is going to get the blame for that. noel clemente is here. i've got to believe that the republicans will get the blame for this, do you agree? >> right now, it's hard to say,

because the house is the only body in washington that's actually passed anything to deal with the taxes, to deal with the spending side. fiscal cliff, they've passed bills and right now, no matter what the public blame may be, the fact of the matter is that the senate is next in line, and president obama is the president of the united states, expected to lead on this and to provide some ideas for it. stuart: i think you would agree with me that so far, it's the republicans who have taken the heat, and john boehner's plan b, a disastrous piece of publicity, got that. do you think that the tide is turning at all and that the jonbenet has been gettinof and . >> and not seeing any leadership for the president and not seeing any for the senate and not seen the budget. i think that the frustration is across th board and it should be

felt by all. >> okay, you're sitting there in washington and you tell me now, do you think we get a deal on new year's eve? >> gosh, i certainly hope so. >> do you think we will? >> do you think we will? >> i don't think that this washington, anyone in washington is reckless enough for the country off the cliff. they recognize it's dangerous. stuart: i've got to read between the lines here. you're saying that there will be some kind of last minute stop-gap deal, yes? >> i certainly hope so. stuart: and what would be the form of that deal? what would be in it just a broad outline? go. >> well, we can't see taxes go up on anybody across the board and we have to see the tax rates extended for everyone and-- >> that's not going to happen. >> that's not going to happen so who is going to pay more in taxes? you say we're going to have a deal and so who pays more in taxes? >> well, you know, with the senate back today and the president back today, hopefully we'll see outlines and--

>> come on. >> i'm not sure what's going on. stuart: you think they're going to get a deal. i want you to tell me the outlines of that deal. not what you hope for, what do you think is it going to happen. >> i'm not sure where the president and senator ree reid e going to draw the line. where the president before was 400,000 with speaker boehner at a million last week. >> let's suppose it's 250. do you think the republicans will accept that, the say go ahead and do it, do you think so? >> i think we have to look at what the whole package is going to be. taxes are part of it and then the spending side. while we we were in a spending crisis and that's driven by-- and sequestered and-- stuart: will there be any spending cuts in a possible last minute deal, do you think? >> i think they'll set a frame work for something moving forward. i'm not sure what the spending cuts are going to be. what i hope is that next year-- stuart: i know what you hope for, but you're telling me that we're going to get some kind of

last minute deal and i want to know what's in it, but i've run out of time. noel, thanks for joining us, appreciate it. >> thank you, sir. stuart: listen to this, a newspaper publishes of names and addresses of gun owners in new york counties. hundreds of names listed. new at 10, one of the gun owners he's furious. he was outed. ford spending money and creating jobs in michigan. all right, nicole, what's with the stock? >> the stock on the gun owners names being released, an interesting story. let's talk about ford. down about 1/2 of a percent and all americans, everybody is waiting for more jobs and ford is doing their part and they're working and expanding in plants and michigan and looking that they will create about over 2300 jobs,200, 350, new equipment and expansion in southeast michigan.

stuart: and it's in michigan, a right to work state. very interesting. nicole, thank you very much. time is money, 30 seconds. here is what else we're watching for you this thursday morning. amazing medical break through could help a lot of people next year. dr. siegle will be here and he'll show it to us. who is the media blaming for the fiscal cliff? you know the answer to that one and so does bret, ale he join us. entitlements keep rolling totally unchecked. young people are picking up the bill, but they he voted for it. we're looking at the biggest winners and losers in the s&p 500. let's start with three of the biggest losers and show you how much they've lost and where they are right now. start with best buy, down a little right now. down 50% so far this calendar year and chip maker advanced

microdevices, it, too, is down 1 this morning, down 55% so far this year. online education company apollo group down 62% for the year, down again as of this morning. time to give you a couple of winners. start with bank of america, more than doubled this year, up 107%, it's up again right now, 10 cents higher. whirlpool up 110% this year up 41 cents. sprint nextel. up 137% this year, it, too, is up again this year and then pulte homes up 182% and yes, it is up again as of right now. the big losers all down, the big winners all up this thursday morning. then we've got facebook's founder, mark zuckerberg's sister, posts a private photo on facebook and sees it go public. she's not happy. what did she not understand about her brother's company? we'll discuss it. first, are things really as bad as the media makes it out to be

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stossel does not see that, are you going to break out into it's a wonderful world. it is a wonderful world. and you're right, it's terrible with the parasite lawyers and. stuart: parasite lawyers, excellent. >> in spite of that, people work around the politicians and life, i consider it my duty this time of year to step back and say, is life really getting better? it is and it has. louis the 14th have 498 people cooking for him and we eat better than he does because we have free markets and they give us facebook even if zuckerberg's sister is ticked off. stuart: so you want to look beneath the very nea veneer andt over a period of time our lives are getting better, materially better, is that the point? >> yes, and we're living longer and healthier. 7 billion people on earth and for the first time, only maybe a

billion are near starvation, that sounds awful, but it's better than it's ever been before. it's the suffering that's-- stuart: i'm going to say later on the program and do my take, sort of editorial to say that the national mood is not optimistic, it's not feel-good. it's not that we're getting better. i think the national mood is anxiety. anxiety that the great experiment of all government all the time is not going well. deep down we know it. so superficially, i say the mood is anxious, would you disagree with that? >> no, i would say good, because our politicians are going to bankrupt medicare and what are the old people going to do. so there should be anxiety and maybe motivate people to stop thinking we could have all of this free stuff. with less government we could still have good stuff because free enterprise creates it. >> i never abandon that position, john stossel. please don't do that.

>> i don't intend to. one thing you said i want to pick up on. longevity rates, we are living longer, we really are. >> americans and the rest of the world. stuart: i think it's 79 for a american female and 77 for american male and in japan i think it's 82 for a female and 80 for a man. that's astonishing. >> and through technology invented in america. stuart: really? >> vaccines, new limbs, healthier liestles. stuartlives. if you look at everything presented in the media, it looks like everything is wrong. the earth is poisoned and we're going into the global warming situation and all that and the food is poisoned and-- >> maybe global warming is a problem, i'm skeptical, but the stuff that really hurts people, what we breathe in our lungs, that's getting better all the time. stuart: you know, i'm so glad you're on the show just behalf before the new year, the precise moment our government runs out of money on monday and we've got

the fiscal cliff, on comes john stossel, look below the surface. >> and the bubonic playin plagua disaster and the fiscal cliff is a problem. stuart: and you'll be saying that tonight on your show. >> what our show is about. stuart: nine o'clock eastern time. >> what a wonderful world. stuart: and the name of the show is "stossel". thank you, johnment time fo joh. time for the gold report. and we're the 1,654 a ounce, i'm surprised at that i thought we'd be well pof 1700 bearing in mind with money printing and all. we're at 1654 as of now. there's no privacy on the internet, not even for the sister of facebook founder mark zuckerberg. she posted a private photo on facebook and watched it go public on twitter and now, she's furious about it. and adam shapiro will explain exactly what happened and he'll join us, he's here, look at

this. >> if you could do that.

even mark zuckerberg's own sister is angry at facebook's privacy setting. randy zuckerberg posted a photo

and someone she didn't know made it public on twitterment she says it wasn't a problem with privacy setting it was a lack of human decency. adam is here and explaining. >> you're on facebook. stuart: the show is. >> and it does have to do with privacy settings and only your friends can see like what you post. she posted a photo and put the names of people. tagging, it's called tagging and put the name of the person, ie, her name in the photo. your friends can see it when you tag the photo it allows your friends to see and and friends of friends. and when friends saw this, someone downloaded the photo and this is what you can do and it got out. >> could she not have adjusted the privacy settings, if it does

dnchts that's a mistake. >> don't tag and identify. >> facebook allows when a friend has a photo of you and tag it, you get to deny that. you can deny when someone does that through the privacy settings, the privacy settings at facebook are simple and easy to use, just don't allow tagging of, don't allow your name to be tagged in a photo. stuart: do you think now that because mr. zuckerberg's own sister was hit by this, he might arrange it, and if it's tagged it can't go out. >> do you have a sister, do you listen. stuart: i have a sister and i listen-- a good one, very good indeed. next, a newspaper publishes the names and dresses of hundreds of gun owners in two counties in new york. just check the website and find out if your neighbor has a handgun. after the break, one of those gun owners was outed and he joins the company and he's furious.

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with the fidelity guided portfolio summary, you choose which accounts to track and use fidelity's analytics to spot trends, gain insights, and figure out what you want to do next. all in one place. i'm meredith stoddard and i helped create the fidelity guided portfolio summary. it's one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. w get 200 free trades when you open an account. stuart: listen to this, new at 10:00 in newspaper in new york state publishes the names and addresses of hundreds of gun owners in two counties. the journal news says it is providing a public service by telling people about legally owned guns in their neighborhoods for. if you are one of those gun owners how would you feel?

a lot of them are not happy. in a few minutes we will talk to a man who was named by the paper on this program. check the big board. we are down 1 point. that is all we have got. we have consumer confidence index number out. the reading was 65. it was 71 in november. we have a downside move in consumer confidence that is not yet moved the market. we have housing number out as well. that has not moved the market. here is the company thursday morning. adam shapiro is here and nicole petallides on the floor of the stock exchange. the biggest winner on the s&p 500 this thursday morning is the travel web site expedia. why such a big win? nicole: to a little dance with your shareholders and see the 4-1/4%. something people were always concerned about when making an acquisition. you have the ratings agency

saying not going to hit their credit rating, so they are keeping that in a positive rating so expedia facing the green. i will give you an opinion. i know you didn't ask for it but you should be gun owners. i had another thought. not only is the privacy of the gun owners taken for granted but also there's a block with no gun owners on it and i'm robert or intruder on will going to be blocked because i see there are pockets with no dots. that is where i go wrong. stuart: i agree entirely. the gun owner who was ousted in a second, can you show me the big board? i won't say this is market reaction to the numbers we received at the top of the hour. we had a slight slip to the downside. new home sales up 4.4%. that is strong but not as strong as some were expecting. the confidence rating is heating -- hurting the market, 65 versus

71 in november. we do have the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate come in from freddie mac, 3.35%. that is how we an ending the year, close to historic lows. the dow is down 8. a newspaper for the suburbs of new york city post a map on its web site showing which homeowners have a gun permit. click on the red dots and you can see the name and address. our guest was among those outed by the journal news. he is also one city council for the town. welcome to the program. >> thank you for having me. you are held in high regard by a lot of colleagues. stuart: when you are angry. you are one of those who was out. your name is in the paper, your address, you have a handgun. you are not happy. >> i am a public figure. my address is out there. now that everyone knows where i live they know that a handgun is in the house. i'm worried about cops, retired

correction officers and judges also on the list and obviously now they have risked their lives for 20 years, they are retired now. stuart: what about those people who are not on the list? 5 one to do them harm now i know they are not protecting themselves with a legal handgun and that is not good. >> the journal news created a harmful situation. would you have is a blueprint for criminals. they know who has a gun and they can go steal a gun. stuart: adam shapiro is here. we were talking during the break. criminals don't read websites. >> can we take a step back and a collective sigh of deep breath because that -- violent crime is down over the last 20 years. the majority of people whether they have a gun are not are not thinking about how my going to do harm to somebody? what the paper did is -- a lot of people would have been uncomfortable with publishing that kind of information but the

idea that there are ironies of bad guys out there waiting for i am going to get you, i don't buy that. is john stossel talking about life is better. >> in new york state 80% of handgun crimes are committed with illegal handguns, stolen or crossing state lines. in westchester county two large cities, yonkers and vernon. [talking over each other] >> of those 80% of people with legal handguns were they in tending and plotting who they were going to attack or were they on the street? what was the climate? >> various array of different crimes but now what we have is crimes tend >> with technology. stuart: i will break in for a second. i want to give you breaking news from the environmental protection agency. the administrator lisa jackson says she will step down. she has been on the job four years. she announced her departure in a

statement that came out today. no particular reason for leaving but she says she was ready for new challenges, time with a family and opportunity to make a difference. lisa jackson, administrator of the epa will step down. back to you for a second, peter. we have a list published in the newspaper. everyone who knows where the legal handguns are in each house, name and address of the person who has got them. in newton, conn. we had a dreadful case of legally hunt handguns used to the terrible way by someone who was clearly mentally unstable. wouldn't the publishing of this list out people who have a handgun in the house and who may also have some unstable person in the same house with access to that legal gun? don't neighbors have a right to know who those people are who may be a threat? >> i agree with that statement but the only publisher and gun owners, they don't have long done rivals. on my street i am the only one

but i don't know if my neighbor two houses down has a shotgun because that is not on a list. the reason for letting people know i have a gun is ridiculous because they let people know who has hand guns. stuart: a public service. that is their reason for doing this. what are you going to do about it? >> i am working with state leaders to try to stop this nonsense. when you -- i am the biggest proponent of open government areas and transparency. i foil freedom of information requests all the time. when you can create a potentially harmful situation where someone can get robbed, retired police officer can get killed which has happened before, you are creating a situation -- stuart: is this not public information anyway? >> it is public now but they're working to change that. stuart: the government knows who has the registration for the handgun. the file a freedom of information act i can get it. >> you can get the information

but not where it belongs. >> you want the government to know but no one else to know. people who own guns might be fearful of the government only having that information. there are people who want their firearms because they don't trust this government. stuart: i am out of time. come back and tell us how things are progressing. thank you for joining us. lots of economic numbers came out at the top of the hour. new home sales up 4.4% in november, month over month, up 4.4%, housing market the bright spots in the economy. pretty good news. >> you get the consumer confidence reading, it is discouraging. how do you explain, can you blame it on the fiscal cliff? we see unemployment numbers not

breeding -- modeling a long and it is not adding up. that sentiment number should have been higher. a lot of people are saying it is truly recovered. stuart: we are down 4 points. >> doesn't make sense. stuart: president obama back in washington and the senate is back in session. harry reid is addressing the senate. this is days before the fall off of the fiscal cliff. senate democrats are telling republicans get out of the way of a last-minute deal, accept tax increases for people making $250,000 a year. get out of the way. accept that. joining us is the founder of the media research center. blame if

problem is spending and neither side is being serious about spending. neither side is. stuart: when you put your finger on it. they are politicians, are they not? they have to have in the back of

their mind, they are politicians. they have to bear in mind the next election can they get reelected? can any politician get reelected by saying i am going to cut entitlements, cut spending? you are going to lose something? >> do you realize we have been doing this for 25 years? do you understand why we are in the mess we're in now? for 25 years both sides kicked the ball down and that is why we have not had a budget in three years. nobody wants to take a stand. every single republican, republican ran for office on the pledge to hold the line on taxes and cut spending. that is what they're are bound to do. barack obama ran also on that. he said he would restore fiscal responsibility and do something about the spending. this is a guy who was giving us trillion dollar deficits, both

sides are being decided, and start talking about this. stuart: what is the media doing? >> typically cobbling barack obama. this guy is filing his nails while the republicans twist themselves into knots. the media are giving obama a complete pass on this one and not holding his feet to the fire on anything and keeping the gun fire on the republicans at all times. the media have been just about as silent as anyone else. all the media accept for stuart varney. stuart: flattery is the fondest milk in television. i have a prediction from you. i personally think there will be some kind of awful last-minute deal, tax the rich, don't cut spending, ignore the debt. i think that will happen.

what is your prediction? >> i will put my kids and your prediction. republicans will take another step, go back another five to ten yards on the football field and the problem will just get even worse. stuart: do you think -- [talking over each other] >> the tech increase, don't anybody forget this, according to three different studies, is going to cost the american economy 700,000 jobs. you wonder why we can't get out of this mess. stuart: we are out of time but that was good stuff and i appreciate the flattery. you will be back, thank you very much. military technology is giving paralyzed people the chance to walk again. this is an amazing story and a good one. dr. mark siegel is next. flat [ malennouncer ] it's tt time of year again.

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stuart: toyota paying $1.1 billion per customer, going to replace and repair vehicles due to acceleration problems. investors, the stock is up. now to another car company, ford investing $770 million in factories in michigan that will create 2,000 jobs, a new right to work stage. check the share price of ford. the price of gas is $3.26 on average. that is the national average of $0.02 from yesterday, temporary hold in that long slide in gas

prices. the big board, down 15 points. senator harry reid of the 4 moments ago saying there's still time for john boehner to accept the deal. apple's sheet gets paid 99% less in compensation but better last year. find out why coming up next.

stuart: senator harry reid speaking on the senate floor says look, republicans, you're protecting the richest 2%, john

boehner's plan b was the debacle, he wants john boehner to bring republican members of the house back into session in washington and vote on a tax plan that he would be putting forward. some impact on the market, the dow industrials down 29 points. basically blaming the republicans for no deal on the fiscal cliff. a news alert for you now. a new number from apple today showing exactly what tim cook made this year. he brought in $4.17 million that includes his base pay and incentives and that is down 99% from the $370 million team made last year. apple chief didn't get any stock awards this year, apple languishing above $500 a share. please check out this video, a real life iron man, and exoskeleton that gives that person, paralyzed people the ability to walk.

a lot is banked on military research. dr. mark siegel is here with the story. i want to see if i have got this right. >> you always have it right. stuart: an exoskeleton is essentially a robot. a paralyzed person wears this robot, there's a backpack of some sort. >> not exactly. this is a big game change iran's big business. these things are running between one hundred and 1 forty thousand dollars. there are 30 run the country, 30 centers run the country and within a year or two they are going to be in the home and that is going to be huge. they allow a paralyzed person to walk again. is a robot. you put a backpack on your back but the actual device perhaps tyranny's and your hips, it uses your arms. you put your arms for ritter and did get your legs moving through motors. the backpack has a wireless device which leads to a computer. you have a handhold council that a nurse or you can manage. it sounds complicated but once

you have used a few times, someone who is 30 years old, he can walk again. the medical benefits of this if you are up right and you are you still lying on your back is better for your heart and your circulation, less loans, less blood clots, anything you can think of medically, your metabolism improves as well as your psyche. stuart: we have a sound bite from one of the people using the exoskeleton talking about its benefits. let's roll manny's take. >> confidence booster, circulation feels lot better to breeze, we can sleep better at night, spasms' decrease, bladder control, basically everything. stuart: can manny actually walk? >> he can. he is at mount sinai medical

center, the head of rehab says we're spending all this time working on nerve growth factors, chemicals, trying to manipulate the brain, this is the game changer. this will be operated from your brain. stuart: primarily mechanical. >> will always be mechanical but mechanical wear your brain is able to direct it. right now you direct it with your arms. it is walking. you are not returning feeling to the person but returning the ability to walk. his mood improved dramatically. this is going to have in my prediction big uses in the private sector. >> this is the miracle, this is remarkable. what popped into my head is something stewart said this was created for military research. there have the blood been on this program who said government and the research that has private sector implications should not go forward because we can't afford it. this would be an example that it should go forward. >> that is a tremendous point. originally a few were in the desert or iraq you could carry

hundreds of pounds on your back with the help of this thing. and people in the sector, read the petition madison said you're absolutely right. >> this is government funding of research which will have private-sector implications. stuart: would not be cut if you get the sequester in place. >> this is not -- no. it is not to be cut but the incentive of working in this area may go down if the military is cut. stuart: a fabulous story and glad you brought it to us. my take on president obama's great experiment to reshape america, my take on it is next.

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stuart: we saw the dow jones industrial average take a dive lower and we are down 73 points and here is why. senator harry reid made these comments on the floor of the senate moments ago. >> if we go over the cliff, the house of representatives, as we speak, with four days left after the first year are not here with the speaker having told them they have $40 notice. i can imagine their consciences where they are around the country and we are trying to get something done. stuart: there you have it.

harry reid blaming the republicans. i think we have sunk into a permanent mood of anxiety. it has been like this for years. christmas uplifting but now it is acted reality. here is my take on the great experiment that is not going well. the great experiment is president obama's attempts to reshape america. he has done it. our society has been reshaped. president obama's world, this brave new world, governments is the good guy. it helps those in need, make sure everything is fair. private enterprise, especially the banks and wall street are the bad guys, they steal wealth, they keep it for themselves, they are clearly unfair. that is america today. i don't think america really likes it. i don't think it is working. we are anxious because we all know deep down that this new

america is not working as advertised quite obviously, we can't afffrd it. you can't overspend by $1 trillion every year and say that is okay, and the rich pay for it and everything will be if they play their fair share, pure nonsense and you cannot say it is fair when half of the people who work don't pay any federal income tax at all, millions who are out of work are on disability or completely dropped out of society. we just know this is not going well. and the weak economy faces tax increases and a debt ceiling crisis just as we look to the new year. i don't believe it is a failure of the political system. it is because we don't care for this new government run america. doesn't feel right. is not the dynamic and prosperous america we are used to end it is not getting better. is getting worse. that is why i say there's a mood

of anxiety across this land.

stuart: a sudden loss down 86 points. harry reid moments ago on the senate floor blaming republicans and he said we are likely going to fall off of the fiscal cliff.

said that moments ago. adam shapiro, you got the response to this. >> spoke to john boehner's office and issued this statement, quote, senator harry reid should talk less and legislate more. the house has passed legislation to avoid the entire fiscal cliff, senate democrats have not. stuart: senator harry reid blaming the republicans and republican response as we have done our part, you have got to do something first. political go at it. the wall street journal is reporting president obama called congressional leaders today to discuss the fiscal cliff and what we have got is a political attack from senator harry reid, a defensive move from the republicans, they're going at it and the dow is down 91 points. >> mel brooks at the governor says we have to save our phony baloney jobs. they are not. stuart: we have new numbers just out showing the number of

workers on disability, social security disability, has hit a record high, 827,725 as of dec.. joining us is the author of hollywood hypocrites'. we have got social security, record number of people on disability, record deficit for social security, $47 billion a year, almost $1 billion a week flowing out more than coming in and young people, you voted for no change to entitlement, keep on paying for old people. what is going on? >> that is right. jasey told us to vote for barack obama. the irony is many young people look at social security and may know it is not going to be around for them in the future. they are not planning their lives and certainly not their

retirement banking on social security solvency. the problem is you have the republican party who rrfuses to address letting younger workers invest their own money into their own retirement programs because they view it as a death knell of the voting booth. there is that problem. you are absolutely right. i don't view social security being around for me. how idiotic government bureaucrats are today, the social security administration claims theyyare running not a deficit of $47 billion that actually running a surplus of $65 billion because of all the ious from the treasury department. one government portion of government borrowing from another portion of government and claiming in the end don't worry, your concerns will be alleviated. stuart: we keep going back to why did young people votes overwhelmingly for this administration to have a second term? was it never pointed out to them

that you are going to have to pay in a difficult job environment that is very stretched, you are going to have to pay for medicare, medicaid and social security all of which go to older people? was it never pointed out to them in any way, shape or form war where republicans portrayed as just mean and stingy and hurting people all costs? what is going on here? >> as you and i have discussed republicans have seeded cultural ground especially on college campuses. mitt romney and paul ryan rarely made an appearance and rarely made conservative ideas, free market ideas palatable to younger voters and talk about things, investing in a social security system that won't be around for them. i think we have allowed liberals or conservatives have allowed liberals to take the pop cultural game and make liberalism seem cool and hip and young people going along with

the flow so that is one issue republicans have to realize. politics follows pop culture. stuart: you are running the republican party and all of a sudden the anointed one who runs the republican party. what would you do tomorrow morning to get the youth vote on your side? >> i would identify every libertarian, right been person in hollywood and have them talk about the ideas of freedom and liberty and entrepreneurship, ideas that resonate, when people talk about limited government and you can talk about conservative ideas in a manner in which they can understand, talk about how all the inventions like facebook and all these big apple products, more cash than the federal government, to use on a day-to-day basis is the result of capitalism in action and correlate that and say if you were to want uncle sam telling you what music sites you can

browse and download and how many friends you have on facebook, that involved in your daily life why would you want them telling you what program to be in? >> why doesn't anyone calling out hollywood when they tell everyone how to live, to be environmentally sensitive, owns three homes and thousands of square feet and flies in private jets and wants tax breaks when he makes films, why is this not pointed out to people? do as i say, not as i do? >> absolutely right. every time there was a concert with bruce springsteen and barack obama at or bond jovi and barack obama i would have young people going out dressed up as fake farmers because both of those individuals classified themselves farmers so they can ride off 90% of their property taxes. here they are campaigning with vote man who is soak the rich, payton ridge the fair share the the republican party does not find out the hypocrisy.

too often they seem like killed lawyers and say go ahead and boycott their movie and don't listen to their music. you can enjoy their final product because they are talented individuals but you have to point out the hypocrisy like i do in hollywood hypocrite's ended goes to how liberals especially those in hollywood, the biggest supporters of barack obama they not live by the standards they want to inflict on the rest of us. stuart: we hear you, thank you very much, see you again soon certainly in the new year. the dow is down 87 points. we have some explaining on that in a moment. there's no stopping it. obamacare is here to stay. the new law will have a major impact on your life. find out what some companies are doing because of obamacare is bare. . there . .

stuart: reports on the economy came out this morning, freddie mac's 30 year mortgage rate unbelievable, down 3.35%. new home sales, sales of new homes up 4.4% in november compared to the total and very interesting number, consumer confidence. the reading was 65 for december, lowest since august. people worried about the fiscal cliff, a low confidence number. weaker jobless claims down 350,000. the stock market is down this

morning, down because senator harry reid essentially said looks like we are going over the fiscal cliff, he said that moments ago on the senate floor and blamed republicans. very much a political fight going on. the dow is down. some companies giving employees money taking care of their own health care. that is obamacare after the break. [ cows moo ] [ sizzling ] more rain... [ thunder rumbles ] ♪ [ male announcer ] when the world moves... futures move first. learn futures from experienced pros with dedicated chats and daily live webinars. and trade with papermoney to test-drive the market. ♪ all on thinkorswim. from td ameritrade.

stuart: toyota paying a billion dollars to customers and $200 million to lawyers to settle lawsuits over what was

called the unintended acceleration problem but despite all the pay out the stock is up. nicole: this is all about those floor mats and sticky gasoline petals, and gas pedals. this is toyota taking out one element of uncertainty from the company, $1.1 billion is what they are paying. this will cover all the economic losses in this class action lawsuit. they are taking out the money to do this and what it doesn't cover the wrongful death and injuries. this was a big wild card for play a and stock move forward. stuart: with the yen going down that doesn't hurt either. thanks. with obamacare kicking in companies are looking anyway they can to save money on health insurance costs. some are considering giving employees a set amount of money and let it go out and get health insurance settled on their own. joining us is the executive

director of the h s a council. i want to make sure i have got this right. as a way of saving money some companies will give employees $10,000, you get out there and cover your own health insurance costs with this money. is that what some of them are doing? >> good morning. i assume some are going to do that. it is the voucher something you heard about. that is now we're doing. we're going to make sure people have affordable major medical insurance and h s as are that product but in response to the high cost you are going to see about your system in some places take hold. stuart: when you're talking about the whole savings accounts, that is you, that is what you are. but the amount of money that i can put in to my age as a has been restricted. >> it has been limited. the affordable care act did impose limits on that but every year these accounts are indexed

for inflation and the amount of money everyone else can put in is going up. stuart: when it is a maximum of $2,500 a year. >> just for individual. for family is higher and contribution limits are higher still so there is an ability to save meaningful amounts of money for your future health-care costs. stuart: my employer -- i am the breadwinner in the family for want of a better word, i cannot put more than $2,500 into that age as a. >> you can. you can put as much as $6,000 if you are a family. there is a product called a flexible spending arrangement which was severely capped by the affordable care act and that is the account that is capped at $2,500. stuart: you are saying the h s a, that is $6,000 for a family, but the age as a has to be offered by the employer. is that right? >> they do.

the employer environment is where most of the h s as are and where we have seen spectacular growth in response to the escalating costs of insurance generally but also because of the recession, companies looking for savings anywhere they can. they are offered by your employer and your employer puts money in this account as you might on a tax-free basis, grows over time and you are supposed to use it to pay for your routine medical expenses at the expenses you might incur in the future. stuart: a little unclear about what this is. you are talking about like a 401(k) pension plan related to just health-care coverage. >> a health savings account is something like that. is a savings account in a bank paired with a qualifying medical plan, major medical insurance. what happens is you pay for things like doctors' visits out of your account, it grows over time tax-free but the insurance is always there. you can't have a health savings account without a qualifying insurance.

stuart: my employer gives me health insurance, i pay into it, the employer pays into and separately i can have one of these 8 s as and it can build up and build up and i put my money and and the employer puts it in and it builds up and when i needed, the whole care, i can spend it and i don't pay any tax on the money in that hsa? >> it is better than that. no matter who puts money in the account contributions to the account are deductible to you and they grow over time tax-free so the interest gains are tax-free and as long as you spend money on qualified medical expenses it comes out of the account tax-free until you are 55 and you continue to pay for qualified medical expenses or you can take it out as regular income and pay income taxes on the money. stuart: i am glad you strained that out. very interesting. i love the 401(k) principle and of is applied to health care i like it too.

appreciate it. does communism pay a? it does for the chinese. 160 of china's 1,000 richest people have a collective network of $220 billion. those 160 people all hold key positions in the communist government. up next.

stuart: senator harry reid blames republicans and says we are likely going to fall off of the fiscal cliff. rich edson on capitol hill, have i got the gist of it right? blamed the republicans, it is all your fault. >> that is about it. the senate wants the house republican conference to pass the bill the senate passed a few months ago and house republicans want to pass the bill they passed a few months ago. it is save to say we are basically where we started in this whole thing a few days before the fiscal cliff. dave: it is they fight. flat out political fight. i guess you can expect that as the deadline draws close but it doesn't take us any closer to any kind of deal, does it? >> if anything it takes us further from a deal and the quote from senate majority leader basically said the house

of representatives is being operated as a dictatorship for not letting the senate bill had the house floor. stuart: we are out of time. it is thursday, almost lunchtime, you have friday and monday, that is all we have got. >> looks like it. stuart: thanks very much. as of this moment it looks like we are going over the cliff and the dow is down 66 points. the 1,000 richest people in china, 160 of them hold key positions in the communist party and in the government. they have a collective net worth of $221 billion. you know a thing or two about this. 160 superrich people in the chinese government. what do they do in the government? >> some have been appointed to important politburo -- the great hall of the people. this is from the wall street journal article in which they looked at these people. these of men and women who are members, eighty two million members of the communist party

with top access to the new leadership, millionaires and billionaires with access to loans from the state-owned banks and access to the licensing agreements you need if you're going to do business in china so this is more greasing of the wheel but it goes down to people who might have been party chiefs in their region that vacancies land from a peasant or middle class person and solid to a developer and it doesn't get reported in united states that people in china rise up again. stuart: people who have gotten rich by being in government. >> absolutely. in china you have to be a member of the communist party of you want to rise up. these 160 that the journal is highlighting, the journal has been doing this for some time showing how those with political connections and members of a party benefit from the availability of access because they get loans from the bank of china. stuart: it is fascinating because it stands communism on its head. >> four legs good, two legs better.

this is not new. this is animal farm. they all started out, these people would have been condemned but now this is the new definition of what the chinese communist party accept as being good. stuart: it works in the sense that a few hundred million people have been moved up to the middle-class. >> there is this book why nations phalange you can have economic prosperity for a while but eventually you have to have political inclusion. feudalism working europe for a select few for only so long. stuart: we have got it and we will follow. [talking over each other] stuart: the highlight reel coming up next.

stuart: here it is. a serious subject in the highlight world today. in new york this paper names the names of gun owners. >> it is ridiculous.

>> it is taken for granted. stuart: you are a angry man. >> yes. >> you have a blueprint for criminals. >> now what we have is crime changing with technology. stuart: we have these two in new york. adam, the whole point about keeping handgun ownership secret is that the bad guys do not know what they are letting themselves in for when they are bursting into your house. you may have a gun. they do not know. >> if you have the gun and you believe it will protect you, it was still protect you. i do not think it was bad what the newspaper did. if people want to break into